NLL

Revamped Rochester Rallies Past Washington

from staff reports

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- For fifty-seven minutes of
play, the Washington Stealth either tied or led the Rochester
Knighhawks in Saturday night’s National Lacrosse League
match-up at the Blue Cross
Arena.Rochester’s thirteenth goal came
with 2:26 left in regulation, in the midst of a five-goal run that
closed out a 15-12 victory and dropped the Stealth’s record
to 1-5 on the year. With the victory, Rochester improves to
3-4 on the season.

Rochester, playing with a revamped lineup as a result of the
indefinite suspensions of five players, was led by Craig Point and
Mike Accursi, who each had a three-goal and two-assist
evening. On Friday, the Knighthawks activated former two-time
NLL Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Cousins, former NLL Rookie of
the Year Point, two-time NLL champion Joe Smith and Senior
“B” Defenseman of the Year Jamie Batson to help replace
a crew of five, including leading scorer Cody Jamieson, that were
arrested last Sunday after being involved in a late-night brawl at
a Minnesota restaurant after a loss to the Swarm.

On Saturday, Pat McCready recorded a hat trick (3+1), while Joe
Walters (1+3) and Cory Vitarelli (1+3) also had solid performances
for Rochester. Matt Vinc made a season-high 50 saves in the team's
second straight home win.

Washington was led by Lewis Ratcliff's eight-point game (4+4),
while Rhys Duch (4+0) and Brett Bucktooth (1+4) also had solid
games for the Stealth.

Both teams got off to hot starts as each scored two goals in the
opening 3:15. Washington got the scoring started first when
Ratcliff found the back of the net just over two minutes into the
game. Rochester was quick to answer, scoring two of the next three
goals to even the score at 2-2 with 11:45 left in the period.
McCready and Scott Campbell scored the Knighthawks goals.
Minnesota, however, would take to a 4-2 lead to close the period
behind goals from Duch and Matt Beers.

In the second, Rochester was able to tie the score at 5-5 after
scoring three of the first four goals in the period. Point and
Vitarelli scored early in the period, before Point scored again on
the power play to pull even with just under six minutes remaining
in the half. Bucktooth scored just over a minute later for the
Stealth, pushing them back in front by a goal. Washington would
take a 6-5 lead to the locker room at halftime.

In the third, the Stealth surged to an early three goal lead in
the first two minutes of play. Mike Grimes and Duch scored just 23
seconds apart for Washington, giving them their largest lead of the
game. Rochester then narrowed the deficit back to a single goal
behind scores from Accursi and McCready just ahead of the halfway
point in the period. The two teams traded goals over the final
eight minutes and the Stealth lead 9-8 going into the game’s
final quarter.

Washington started the fourth quarter scoring with a goal off
the stick of Athan Iannucci, but his goal was quickly answered by
Rochester’s Accursi. The teams would then go back and forth
trading goals over the next five minutes, with Ratcliff’s
goal at the 6:29 mark pushing the Stealth lead back to two goals
once again.

Ratcliff scored a pair of power play goals in the fourth, the
second of which gave the Stealth a 12-10 lead with 6:30 left in
regulation.The Stealth power play unit went
2-for-3 in the game.

With 5:16 on the clock, McCready scored his third goal of the game
to make it 12-11.That goal sparked five
unanswered by the Knighthawks.Joe Walters gave
Rochester its first lead of the game, 13-12, with 2:26 remaining,
followed by a Johnny Powless goal and a Brad Self empty-netter to
give the Knighthawks the victory at home.

“We failed to make some important adjustments on the back
end,” said Webster of the final five minutes of the
game.“Lacrosse is a game of momentum and
they scored a few in a row and we lost control of the
game.”

Iannucci, who didn't have a chance to practice with his new
teammates before joining the team in Rochester, learned the offense
on the fly and finished with a goal and two assists.

"There are still things that need to get ironed out up front,
but the ball moved well for most of the game with Iannucci in
there," said Sealth assistant coach Art Webster. "But we are still
allowing too many transition opportunities as we switch from
offense to defense."

The Knighthawks scored five transition goals in the game,
including two in the fourth quarter.